Yes, I'm still here. This chapter was written in 1 day. Rip my fingers.

PLEASE READ EVERYTHING IN THIS CHAPTER NOTE I PROMISE IT IS ALL IMPORTANT SOMEHOW!

RECAP:
- Heisting happened. Alfred and Arthur got their sexual tension all over the place.

WARNINGS: very minor self-harm. It isn't related to depression or anything similar in any way, and isn't performed for the typical reasons, but I wanted to be sure to give fair warning, just in case.
Mentions of child abuse. Descriptions of torture and murder. Some description of a corpse.

To anyone who ships USUK…( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)…I got you homie. I GOT YOU.
To anyone who doesn't; apologies, but it just be like that sometimes.

IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ THIS! I KNOW IT'S LONG, I GOT CARRIED AWAY, SORRY!
Guys, I am about to dive into a minor character arc in this story that deals with mental illnesses and trauma. The character I refer to here is Yao, just for the record. I didn't want to create confusion since there are some other scenes in this chapter which could be interpreted as relating to trauma.

Now, I have never suffered from the illness I am aiming to portray, nor do I know anyone who has. However, I want to do it justice. Too often, people with mental illness are portrayed as insane or dangerous. This illness and others like it especially get a bad reputation from people who really don't know what they're talking about. I want to do this in a respectful manner, and do it as accurately as I can while using only the internet as a source.

I am not an expert in this area, nor will I ever claim to be. If anyone takes serious objection to the way that I portray this illness, please don't feel afraid to let me know so I can change and improve the way that I depict it. I am very much so open to and actively welcoming suggestions from all readers. If you know what this illness is like or just want to share how another has affected your life, please tell me. This arc is something that I have been very hesitant to actually do, though I have wanted to depict this for a while now. I aim to make this story realistic, but not over-dramatized or romanticised. If something about how I choose to do this rubs you the wrong way, please let me know. I want to be respectful and considerate, especially considering the severity of some of the things I am seeking to eventually depict here.

Thank you all for understanding. I hope that I can this justice, not just for people who suffer from this specific illness, but to everyone who has been misjudged for having mental illnesses. For too long, people have been called 'crazy' based on the fact that they have a certain mental illness. I know that is not the case, and I want to make sure that anyone who reads this story knows that.

Thank you all again, and without further ado, enjoy the chapter.

Resistance Headquarters,
Draak-Zafi Forra, Nyma,
10th Jaune

Yao drew in a deep breath as he pressed a hand to his temples. He had been having trouble concentrating for the last few days, and he'd started to drift into inattention even in the middle of conversations. He had wondered if it was a result of fatigue or even heatstroke, but he had taken the last few nights off to actually sleep, and even gone to see Kabeeta, but physically, there was nothing wrong with him.

Even during his conversation with young Matthias Køhler, he had felt off-kilter and struggled to keep his mind in the conversation. It had eased up eventually, and he had been able to focus on Octavia when speaking with her, but it was starting to concern him. His mind had been drifting off course more and more often for the last few months, whether he meant it to or not. As if that weren't enough, the odd feeling had started to affect his emotions as well.

He had shown almost no emotion; had been able to feel almost nothing when he was told that three young recruits had been killed in a training accident, but had felt close to lashing out in blistering rage when Octavia had told him that they had fallen short their construction quota of long-range sniper rifles by only two. He felt all over the place, both exhausted and manic with energy, sad yet borne aloft by an inexplicable, burgeoning hope.

He didn't have either the time or will to go and see Kabeeta about it, though, so he forced the feelings down and threw himself back into his work, like he normally did. He shook his head. He felt like the stability that he had built up over the years had been knocked off it's alignment after his trial. The raw vulnerability of having his secrets and shames exposed to so many people, in addition to immediately having to face the person who had outright betrayed and deceived him had shaken him deeply. But Yao was normally able to get over things like that. It seemed, right now, that he was getting worse and worse as time went on.

Yao combed some loose locks of hair back from his forehead with his bare hand, wrinkling his nose and withdrawing his hand when he noted how greasy his hair felt. He felt like it hadn't been too long since he'd properly showered and washed his hair, but the oil on his fingers would disagree. Sighing, he pushed himself up and moved towards the bathrooms, keen to be properly clean again.

There was a young woman waiting for him when he emerged and Yao stilled, glad that he had pulled his gloves back on in the bathroom rather than waiting to get back into his office. He blinked for a moment, confused, but smiled as she turned and he recognised her.

"Nelia, how can I help you?" the Jhobrasian woman smiled warmly.

"Well, I was told to deliver a message to you." She said, smile shifting into something more bashful as he raised one eyebrow curiously.

"I see. What message, may I ask?" Nelia sighed.

"Well, I was on guarding duty for the prisoners in cell block E, and their leader? Uhh, Matthias? He asked me to pass a message on for him." Yao straightened up. He had started to give up hope that the Rywanese bounty hunter would even bother to respond to his offer, so, even if it was a negative answer, the man had at least deigned to respond at all.

"And?"

"Uhh," Nelia blushed a little, "He…um…used rather strong language…"

"I promise I won't be offended." He said gently, smiling a little. Nelia sighed.

"Okay then, well, to quote him, um, 'Okay, fucking fine, I'll go along with your batshit plan, you crazy manipulative fucker'." She looked down as Yao snorted.

"Thank you, Nelia. If you could bring him to my office, I would be very grateful." She nodded, still looking a little embarrassed by the message, which Yao couldn't help but be rather amused by. He strode across the open common space, returning to his office with a sigh. He resolutely avoided looking at anyone with bronze skin and dark hair; he had been seeing Ayshe in every Nymian person that he walked past, and it was starting to get to him.

They had received news just yesterday that the first part of the mission had been successful, and that they had gone undetected. Yao was glad, but not very surprised. He had chosen Ayshe for the mission for that exact reason; she made even seemingly hopeless situations look bright, and could turn a mission doomed to fail into a resolute success. He had been too harsh with her before she and the others had left, and he regretted his actions now. I'll apologise to her when she gets back, properly, in person. He could only hope that she didn't hold it against him.

He sat behind his desk, wishing that he could go and sleep. There was a reason that he normally only slept a few hours a night or just stayed awake; he had trained himself into surviving on small amounts of sleep, so when he slept a normal night's worth, he was left wanting more sleep, feeling groggy and disoriented. Combined with his lack of focus over the last few weeks, and the overall quality of his work had been slipping dangerously.

Yao rolled his shoulders back as Nelia escorted the grumpy blond man in the door and into the chair that he had occupied about five days previously. There were dark smudges under his eyes which indicated that he hadn't been sleeping much, and the resigned scowl on his face told Yao all that he needed to know about his willingness in this agreement.

"Good evening, Mr Køhler." He said simply. The blond heaved a sigh, not bothering to return the greeting. Yao resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but continued to speak, a smile stretching across his face despite himself. "I got your message."

A smirk broke through the scowl on Matthias' face, and Yao leant back a little, satisfied as some of the tension in the room dispersed. "It was a little crudely worded, but I got the basic gist of things." Yao continued. "So, you've decided to cooperate, then. Why?" Matthias sighed, kicking his bare feet at the empty air.

"Because, my friends are suffering. Being locked up for so long? Its fucking killing them. We made a mistake, trying to escape from your subordinates, alright, we get it. But just because of that, just because we found out your little secret, doesn't mean that we should spend the rest of our lives, however long that is, suffering for it. I don't want to go to Fynkn. I don't really care about fighting the Union or protecting some royal brat, but it gives my friends the chance to walk free again, so I'll do it." Yao stayed silent, watching him carefully.

"How noble." He said carefully. Matthias glared at him, obviously not fond of his tone. "I do mean that, too, Mr Køhler. Not many people would put themselves through hardship and trial for their friends." Matthias looked away.

"Yeah, whatever. So what now? Do I just go back to our cell and wait until your little prince comes back?" Yao shook his head.

"No. your time in captivity has weakened you, even I can see that much. You'll be allowed to spend your remaining time here outside, regaining your strength, brushing up on your Fynknian, anything really that needs to be done."

"Jeg trenger ikke å øve min Fynknyi." (I don't need to practice my Fynknian) Matthias spat. Yao raised an eyebrow.

"Jeg er glad for det." (I'm glad of that) Yao responded smoothly, making the blond blink in surprise. Yao smiled slightly. This would make things go a lot more smoothly. "Of course, we will also need to have you fitted for warmer clothes, and taught about the sort of conditions you can expect on Fynkn." Yao inclined his head a little. "I'm very glad that you decided to help us out." Matthias opened his mouth to say something, but Yao beat him to it. "I realise that you aren't doing this for us, but I'm thanking you as a courtesy." Matthias slammed his mouth shut, looking irritated but not quite as angry as he had before. Yao was silent for a moment, ignoring the odd whispering in the back of his mind and the bizarre surge of emotion that flooded through his system. He really needed to sleep.

"Nelia." He called to the Jhobrasian woman. She had stood far enough away to not hear their conversation, but close enough to hear Yao if he called for her. He waited until she had entered the room to continue. "Our friend has deigned to cooperate with us. Octavia knows the specifics, so kindly just explain the situation to her and she can handle it from there." Nelia nodded, ducking her head slightly.

"Yes sir." She said, ushering Matthias out the door, leaving Yao to his own thoughts.

Dangerous very dangerous this is so dangerous you're mad for doing this you're absolutely mad, one intrusive thought screamed at him. Blinking abruptly at its suddenness and uncharacteristic negativity, Yao took a deep breath in, trying to banish it to the depths of his consciousness and let his mind drift away a little. Køhler was cunning, but he was far from stupid. If he cared enough about his friends to go through with this, then it was unlikely that he would jeopardise it by trying to hurt Lukas. And, in any case, Lukas could definitely protect himself against one bounty hunter, no matter how highly trained.

You're making mistakes so so many mistakes you really think that you know what you're doing you don't know what you're doing-

"Shut up, me." Yao sighed wearily, shaking his head a little to rid himself of the nagging in his mind. "I do not need negativity right now." He sighed, glancing over at the clock and blinking when he noted that it had been about an hour since he had met Nelia outside the bathrooms. His conversation with Køhler had only taken up about 15 minutes or so. He…hadn't been sitting here for over 40 minutes, had he?

That's ridiculous. His brain murmured. There was no way. No, he shook his head. No doubt, he had read the clock wrong earlier. Shaking off the chill that had settled into his bones, Yao stood, ignoring how deeply unsettled he felt as he quickly left his tent.

Merdide Neighbourhood, Priiko City
North-Eastern Reycass
10th Jaune

Alfred groaned as he stretched, sighing in relief as he felt his back crack satisfyingly and resolutely ignoring the disgusted look on Leon's face when he heard the noise. The last few days had been a bizarre change of pace from just before their first infiltration of Xi Lan Ey. Before the mission had taken place, the atmosphere around their temporary lodgings had been tense and anxious, and they had all had their minds fixed on the mission.

Their second planned infiltration of the building, however, didn't rely on nearly as much stealth as their first one did. They still needed to be subtle, so that they could escape without being captured, but if they were detected this time, it wouldn't really matter since they already had the information they needed. Everyone was a lot more relaxed now, and had been absently discussing what they were going to do when they got back to Nyma.

It had been about nine at night when they had gotten back from Xi Lan Ey, and they had spent a long time debriefing and explaining what had happened during the mission. He and Arthur had had to spend a while working through why exactly they had triggered their alarms while getting to the database room. Apparently it had spooked Ayshe and the others quite badly, but they were all relieved to hear that the situation hadn't gone south.

The whole group had lost their minds laughing when they heard about how Gilbert and Mei had avoided arousing suspicion, though Alfred hadn't missed the over-protective frown on Arthur's face as he stared down Gilbert. It was sweet, in Alfred's mind, that he cared so much about his subordinates. Ayshe hadn't been pleased to hear that Lukas had used his water manipulation to get himself and Tino out, but the sniper had stepped in to explain that there was no other way that they could have gotten out of the room without alerting security. She had calmed down a little after that.

By the time they had finished their debriefing, it had been almost 2am and they had all wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. It had been a relief when Ayshe finally dismissed them. Alfred had thought that he would be too anxious to sleep, still full of adrenaline from the mission, but had passed out just minutes after climbing into bed, and hadn't woken up until 2 in the afternoon. When he had trudged outside, only Ayshe, Leon and Gilbert had been awake. Lukas and Tino had been so exhausted as a result of their climbs up and down the side of the facility, and shimmying through the ventilation that they hadn't woken up until about three hours after Alfred.

They had all been so groggy and mentally worn out that they hadn't done much other than eat and relax; reading books and even watching tv to look out for any reports of a break-in at the intelligence centre. Alfred had ended up going back to bed at about 1 am or so, though he woke up at the fairly reasonable hour of 11am that morning. By that time, they had been running low on a few different foodstuffs, so Alfred had gone with Lukas to go and get more.

He didn't think that Lukas himself was creepy – a little withdrawn and quiet, but hey, so was Berwald, and he wasn't off-putting at all. The guy's abilities weren't that creepy either (though, admittedly, he didn't love the idea of having someone poke around in his head) but they were unsettling. He knew that he would get over it eventually, but he could tell that he'd already hurt Lukas a little by being flinchy on the subject in the first place, which he regretted a lot.

When he and Lukas had returned with more food, Mei and Leon had been quick to start cooking food for everyone. They had spent some more time going over their roles for the second break-in in a few days' time, ensured that the drives were all still working properly via the use of a remote monitor, and continued to re-study the floorplans of the facility and study the new guard rotations for their second entry.

They had been so busy ever since the first break-in that Alfred hadn't really gotten the chance to properly talk to Arthur. He had no idea where they stood right now, and wasn't entirely sure if the pirate even wanted to talk to him. Everything that had happened during the mission, from Arthur calming him down when he got scared, to holding hands so much, even to Arthur kissing his cheek the night before the mission…they hadn't talked about any of it. It made Alfred a little nervous, because, well, he liked Arthur, a lot, but he had no idea if Arthur felt the same way. He didn't want to force the pirate to have a conversation about it if he didn't want to, though, so Alfred had resigned himself to existing in eternal limbo with the blond.

At least, he had resigned himself to such until Arthur asked to talk to him. The request was a little surprising, honestly, but he wasn't about to decline it. Alfred tugged at the hem of his shirt nervously. He was seated on the end of Arthur's bed again, fiddling with his clothes and studying the beige walls probably a little more closely than was necessarily required. He heard Arthur sigh quietly, and decided to kickstart the conversation.

"So…uhh…why did you want to talk to me?" Alfred asked. Arthur looked up, emerald green eyes wide and blinking in surprise.

"Well…" Arthur hesitated. Alfred could almost see the moment that he chose to change the topic in his mind. "You…I wanted to know why you acted how you did at the facility. I mean…there's nothing wrong with being claustrophobic, of course, but you were fine in the mountains so I guess I was just wondering…why did you react in the facility but not in the mountain passes?"

Alfred hummed under his breath. It wasn't that he was opposed to answering the question, but he certainly hadn't been expecting it. He probably should have; Arthur was wickedly observant.

"Well, I wouldn't say that I'm like a normal claustrophobic, actually. Any confined space is alright but it's just when my body is all cramped up against the sides that I freak out." Arthur was watching him intently. Alfred sighed.

"Well, I'll have to explain a few things first, so bear with me." Alfred muttered, clearing his throat slightly. "Alright so, you know Matthew, right?" Arthur nodded. "Yup, he's my brother, older than me by little over a year. We were raised in Beledent on Rywan, and, well, to be completely honest, our parents were really shitty. They never let us talk or ask questions; if we did anything other than hide away in our rooms and be quiet, we'd normally get knocked around a bit." Alfred saw Arthur clench his fists a little at that, and smiled sadly.

"Anyway…yeah, they really didn't love us or care about us at all." He murmured. "When the Expansion happened, well, Beledent had a really big Fynknian population, so they rounded them all up and planned to deport them back to Fynkn, despite the fact that they all had valid visas and papers and stuff. The day that they all broke out and rioted was one of the few days that my parents took Mattie and I out into the marketplace. Matt got separated from us in all the chaos, and my parents didn't really try that hard to find him." Arthur nodded sadly.

"After a few months…well, they noticed exactly how much cheaper it was having one less child, so, they, uhh…they decided to get rid of me too." Arthur's eyes were wide and horrified, and Alfred reached out and squeezed his hand gently. "They took me to an orphanage in Karkira City and left me there." Arthur stiffened even more, and Alfred gently brushed his thumb over the back of his hand. "The people who worked at the orphanage…they weren't kind. It was clear that they didn't get paid much and just kept the job because they had no other option. Anyway…whenever one of the kids was bad, they used to lock us in these small wooden trunks. They only had the smallest gaps in them for air and light, and if you ever yelled out or threw a fuss while inside one, they used to kick the box around until you stopped." He shrugged. "I was a loud kid. I liked to talk to people. I got thrown in there a lot."

"Oh…Alfred…" Arthur murmured quietly, enclosing Alfred's hand in both of his own. "That's…well…how could they do that to little children?" Alfred shrugged.

"I don't know, but being in small little space always reminds me of those chests. It's stupid, I know-"

"It isn't stupid." Arthur declared, grip tightening. "Not even remotely." He paused for a moment. "My childhood wasn't like that, not even close, so I won't act like I know what it was like, but…you didn't deserve that, and I hope you realise that." Alfred smiled.

"Yeah…it took me a while to accept that they were the ones at fault…thank you, Artie." Arthur smiled gently. Alfred sucked in a deep breath, focusing on the feel of his hand enclosed between Arthur's, memorising the feeling unless what he said next ruined it. "Can I ask? …What…um…what exactly are we?" Arthur looked at him. "I mean, we get along really well as friends but…this is like the tenth time that you've held my hand."

Arthur chuckled quietly. "Well, that depends…what exactly is it that you want from me?"

Alfred swallowed. "Well, that's the thing, you know? You don't owe me anything, and I would never act like I have the right to demand anything from you, because I don't, and that's just wrong, but you kinda give off weird signals sometimes and I don't know if I'm getting your vibe right or if I'm just dumb so-"

"You aren't dumb, Alfred." Arthur cut in elegantly. "But…let me ask you this. What signals do you think I've been giving off?" Alfred blinked, flushing.

"Well, you…um, you sometimes…uhh…flirt?" he immediately felt his face redden and prayed for the ground to open up and let him descend straight into hell. Arthur was smirking a little.

"I…flirt…Right…anything else?"

"Well…" Alfred trailed off, staring at Arthur. He didn't seem to be repulsed by the direction that the conversation was going in. His mind ran over the conversation that they had just had, as well as every other nice thing the man had done for him. Calming him down when the rebels took him captive, helping redo the bandages on his leg after Matthew stabbed him, comforting him last night, always listening even when he knew that he was being an idiot. The list was endless. "I…" he trailed off, swallowing. Don't be a wimp. "I…I just really wanna kiss you, actually." He said, his voice sounding a little hoarse. He didn't dare meet Arthur's eyes, turning his attention to one part of his shirt hem that was starting to fray. He felt warmth on the sides of his face, and realised that Arthur was cupping his jaw in his hands.

"I'm really glad that you just said that." Arthur whispered, sliding one hand back so that his fingers were curled in Alfred's hair. "Are you sure that you mean it? You want to kiss a nine-fingered, Chalydrantis-ridden pirate?" Alfred sucked in a breath, nodding. Arthur watched him for a long moment, gently brushing his thumb over his cheek. "Alright then."

Then they were actually kissing, instead of just talking about it.

Arthur was incredibly warm, though the feel of his fingers sliding through Alfred's hair made him shiver, and he couldn't help but press himself closer to the pirate. He wound his arms around Arthur's waist and pulled him in. The older man didn't seem troubled by it, simply shifting his legs so that he could properly sit on Alfred's lap. His mouth was warm and soft pressed against his own, intoxicating and heady. Alfred felt dizzy when their mouths both opened up a little, the feeling hotter and wetter than it had been before. One of Arthur's hands strayed from Alfred's hair to his shoulder, before looping around so that he was holding Alfred's body up against his own.

Oh my god I'm gonna die happy, Alfred's brain joyfully supplied as he felt Arthur nip his bottom lip a little. His thoughts were racing and tumbling over each other in a euphoric haze, each screaming about the feel of Arthur's muscles through his shirt or the faint taste of coffee on his lips. It wasn't long after that, though, that Arthur decided to introduce his tongue to the equation, and the small amount of cognitive function that Alfred still had ground to a total and complete halt.

They finally surfaced for air at some point after that, breathing deeply and feeling thoroughly kiss-bitten. Arthur chuckled softly, leaning his forehead against Alfred's. Alfred tightened his grip on Arthur's middle ever so slightly, almost afraid that he was going to run away.

"Was that a one-time thing? Or…" Alfred trailed off, immediately regretting that he had asked the question. Arthur looked down at him, as if he were considering his words.

"Hmm…nope." He said, kissing Alfred again. "I intend…" Cue another kiss. "To do this…" he dragged his teeth along Alfred's bottom lip again, drawing a keening noise from the overwhelmed bounty hunter, "…as much as possible." Then he pressed their lips together properly, and Alfred decided that it was best to stop asking questions.

Ror'a Plateau
About 320 kilometres (200 miles) east of Draak-Zafi Forra, Nyma
12th Jaune

"Not bad." Kari commented as she stretched her arm out and rotated it. The worst of the pain was gone now, though a twinge here and there told her that it still needed to heal a little. Tori was watching her anxiously, guilt all over her features even though she hadn't done anything.

"Are you sure? I can try again." Kari grinned, tossing her fair hair over her shoulder as the Daernic girl continued to fuss over her.

"It feels a lot better, I promise. You're getting good at this." Tori smiled a little, though she sighed nonetheless.

"Thanks. I just wish that there was another way for me to learn. You guys shouldn't have to go through this just so I can improve." Kari giggled a little.

"You know, I helped Lukas train his gifts a little, too. I let him put me in a coma, for saints' sake. A dislocated shoulder is nothing." Tori looked doubtful, but didn't press the issue any further.

For the last few weeks, Matthew and Emilia, with the supervision of Octavia, had been helping Tori train her abilities, but when they had seen her back at her usual place at the dining hall, she had been invited to come along too, which she was more than happy to do. She had been sent off to conduct a bit of reconnaissance in the Gafadari Grasslands, and though she was always happy to work, she had missed being around the hustle and bustle of normal resistance life.

Finding out that she had missed out on helping Tori train her had been deeply irritating. Kari had always had the future of the Free Courts as one of her top priorities, so helping Tori train was just a way of her fulfilling that. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the Daernic royal gifts, Tori was a little harder to help.

The gifts of the Daernic royal family were known as the Dovana, and, like those of the Syhvvanian and Fynknian royal families, were quite powerful. Like the other two remaining Free Courts, the Laurinaitis family had traditionally had mastery over one element – earth. From what Elizabeta and Octavia had explained to her, the Daernic people called this ability the Zeme, and it was one of the more powerful abilities in the Free Court royal arsenal. The other of the two gifts was the ability to heal others, dubbed the Gijimas. Since Tori had been having trouble with manipulating the earth, it was the other of her gifts that they were currently trying to train.

Kari had had no problem with the idea of helping Tori learn how to heal people, until Octavia had turned and asked if she would be willing to have her arm popped out of it's socket. It was a testament to the sheer bizarreness of her life that the question hadn't even fazed her, nor had it been the strangest thing that she had ever been asked.

Tori was obviously a lot better at healing than she was at using the earth, luckily for Kari, though continually dislocating her own shoulder was starting to seriously hurt. She wasn't the only one sucking up their pain and complaints to help, though.

Upon seeing Tori rise from her place next to Kari, Matthew sighed a little and withdrew his knife from his belt, wincing only a little as he pressed it into the skin of his arm, near his elbow, and dragged it across. Red spilled outwards, dripping down his arm in a steady stream. Tori sighed, crossing the short distance to him and laying her fingers gently on his arm near the injury. There was a beat of silence before the sides of the cut knitted themselves back together, and the stream of red ceased. Matthew hummed in satisfaction, wiping the blood on his arm away, leaving only the slightest red mark, akin to a scratch, to show that he had ever been hurt.

"Alright, I think that that's enough for one day." Octavia cut in when Tori swayed slightly. "I think you should all head back. I'll collect the gear."

"You sure?" Matthew asked. Octavia nodded, smiling a little.

"I've watched you two dislocate your bones and cut yourselves open for the last two hours. I think I can handle packing up some gear." Matthew relaxed a little, grinning.

"Well, if you're sure. Thanks, Octavia." The Daernic Vice-general smiled, and began to pick up the scattered medical equipment lying around the ground. Matthew smiled softly. Though the trial itself had been a horrific affair, it had had some legitimately good results. Yao's leadership and loyalty had not come into question even remotely ever since Maarch, and it had made all of the resistance's highest-ranking members a lot more bearable.

Octavia had obviously taken the time after the trial to self-reflect, not only on how she had treated Yao and neglected to notice the real threat, but also on how she operated as a leader and Vice-General. The result had been a massive improvement in her overall demeanour, role and image to the rest of the resistance. Matthew didn't think he was wrong in believing that she had taken a few cues from how Yao conducted himself and analysed situations before creating a suitable plan in response.

She had already been an effective leader, and a good person, too, if misguided on rare occasions, but her ability to self-reflect, grow and improve herself was making Matthew really like her. He admired her a lot more now for acknowledging her own mistakes than he had previously when she tried to portray herself as infallible. It was nice to see that even the people he learned from weren't above taking a lesson to heart.

Matthew's thoughts drifted to Alfred as he followed Kari and Tori back to one of the trucks they had taken out here. The mission to Xi Lan Ey was half-way done, with only the second infiltration and retrieval left. Despite having been suspended when the mission was declared, Yao had still kept him in the loop of what the venture entailed. It was comforting to know that his brother had done well in their first mission inside. Their first entry had been so critical, according to Yao, because, had the staff of Xi Lan Ey realised they had a break-in, they would have conducted top-to-bottom searches of the entire facility, and quickly pulled the plug on the drives intended to collect information from their database.

Their second entry, however, didn't matter nearly as much. Since the drives would have already collected a shit-ton of information, all that mattered was getting them out safely. Subtlety and discretion weren't the main focus. They would have a much easier time of it.

Xi Lan Ey Intelligence Centre,
Outside Priiko City, Reycass
13th Jaune

Tino sighed as the three security guards in front of the door dropped like flies, unconsciousness immediately taking hold of each of them. "You could be a little more subtle."

Lukas looked up, brow furrowed as he withdrew his extended hand. "Ayshe said that discretion wasn't necessary." Tino rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, and Alfred and Arthur also insisted that they haven't spent the last three days making out and thinking about fucking each other. Do you believe them?" Lukas rolled his eyes. That had been a minor revelation of the last few days, brought about when the pair had emerged from Arthur's room flushed and very rumpled, with Alfred looking like he was ready to take to the skies with joy while Arthur had asked for a sandwich in deadpan.

Gilbert had practically doubled over cackling at them, while Mei clapped her hands together in excitement and Leon just rolled his eyes. Ayshe hadn't seemed to care, though knowing how observant she was, she had definitely noticed. Tino personally was happy for them. They went well together. Lukas, much like Ayshe, had appeared to have been disinterested with the whole affair. Tino had still caught the small smirk on his face when he'd turned away, though. Evidently, despite all appearances to the contrary, Lukas was happy for them too.

"I feel like there is a distinct difference between that situation and this one." Lukas pointed out. "We're near the blind spot, no-one will see."

"Do you really want the Union to know that you're alive and kicking though? And with the resistance, much less." Tino pointed out. Lukas scowled, but didn't try to fight him further on the topic. "I think you should use your gifts, of course, but maybe not where there are over 200 cameras linked directly to a Union server." Lukas hesitated, and then frowned more. Tino knew him well enough by now to know that it meant he had won.

"Yeah, whatever. Yao probably wouldn't let me get involved in anything even if that did happen." Tino shot him a look.

"He let you come on this mission."

"Because he wanted to get me out of his hair for a while. I'm no idiot, Tino. I know that you being paired up with me wasn't a coincidence, and neither was him sending his best Admiral to lead this mission." Tino winced.

"Well, in all fairness, I think that he was trying to get Ayshe away from him as well." Tino shrugged. "He likes to throw his problems a good distance away and run while he has the chance. He'll definitely be working at it behind the scenes, but he doesn't like it when people get up in his face about things. Mentioning it once or twice would have sufficed, even if it seems like he isn't responding. That's just who Yao is." Lukas inclined his head a little, indicating that he was listening as they clambered through a window set into the wall and proceeded down the hall.

"I know that, but…I want to be useful, and he isn't letting me." Lukas muttered. Tino looked over at him sympathetically.

"He will, just give him enough time to spin together some crazy scheme. He's probably already done that, and he'll spring it on you when we get back." Tino reasoned. "I mean, I get that you're frustrated, but…Yao has a lot to deal with, and not just from the resistance." Lukas frowned as he used his powers to 'convince' a female worker that she couldn't see or hear anything as they walked past.

"What do you mean?" Tino shrugged.

"I don't think the trial was good for him. He's been a little off ever since, don't you think?" Lukas nodded a little.

"Yeah…when I was looking through everyone's minds to find the spy, I saw a few flashes of what was in his." Lukas flinched. "Not pleasant." Tino winced.

"Yeah, I doubt it would be. I don't envy you. It's up here." he gestured as they quickly climbed a staircase to the fourth floor and ducked down a side corridor towards where they had left the drive little under five days ago. They had received a notification that the drives were all finished collecting data earlier that day, and had quickly worked out their plan to re-enter the facility.

They had been assigned to the same pairs and areas as the first time. Tino could only hope that Arthur and Alfred were focussing on the mission and not each other.

Lukas raised his hand, and Tino watched the two guards in front of the door to the server collapse. It was more effective than any chloroform or other sedative, and the effect was broken only when Lukas said it was. He could also prevent them from remembering their faces. As it was, they had pulled biker masks over the bottoms of their faces to prevent their faces from being filmed properly by the security cameras. Lukas's hair was still dyed black, so they didn't need to worry about the Union seeing that he was Fynknian. Due to how Lukas had been raising and positioning his hand, it appeared, to all outward appearances, that he was holding something in his hand which was knocking the guards out. It was all for show, of course, since Lukas didn't need his hands to control minds.

They slipped inside, and Lukas ducked over to the drive, still faithfully plugged into the server under a desk, checking that it had been collecting information before hurriedly removing it and wrapping it in the thick, wool scarf they had brought, stuffing it inside his jacket. Tino watched the door carefully, fingers curled around the handle of a pistol. You could never be too cautious in a place like this.

Lukas nodded at Tino once he was ready, and they slunk from the room, stepping over the unconscious guards, with Lukas pausing momentarily to ensure he wiped all memories of the brief encounter from their minds before they proceeded.

Tino never really appreciated how slow being sneaky could be. Where the mission had taken them almost two hours just a few days ago, it now took about fifteen minutes in all. They jogged down the stairs and past the few guards that they hadn't bothered knocking unconscious, brushing off the confusion as the Unionists slowly realised that they weren't meant to be there. Ducking through the window they had originally entered the building though – the same one that Gilbert and Mei had entered through last time – they left the facility unscathed and significantly less stressed than they had last time.

Moving quietly through the woods, they were pleasantly surprised to find Arthur and Alfred already waiting – thankfully with their mouths separate from one another – and paused to wait for Ayshe and Leon. Since Gilbert and Mei didn't really have a job to do this time around, they had lingered back at the apartment, getting the ship ready for departure. They had all voted on the issue, and decided that leaving as soon as possible was a good decision. They had revised their infiltration tactics that morning as they folded clothes and stowed away weaponry.

Arthur tensed, standing from where he'd been talking softly with Alfred. Tino followed his gaze as Lukas and Alfred also came to attention.

"That isn't Ayshe." Arthur murmured, right before a guard dressed in the bland grey of a legitimate Unionist stepped into the small space that they had been waiting in.

The man's hands were reaching for a gun before they had all even reacted properly to his presence, and just as Tino stumbled backwards, fingers seeking his own weapon, Lukas threw his hands out. Tino understood what he had done right before Lukas himself seemed to realise. The Fynknian didn't need his hands to control minds, but he used them constantly whenever he made water bend to his will. And, Tino reflected as his heart sunk and nausea stirred in the pit of his stomach, the human body was composed predominantly of water.

The man had stilled with a revolver in his hands, arm bent as he had no doubt intended to lift it and shoot them. Judging by his alignment, Alfred had been his first target. His face was locked in a bizarre expression; still, but with the beginnings of fear etched into the features, as if his mind had just started to recognise what was going on as he froze.

Lukas hadn't frozen him in a sheet of ice, and Tino couldn't honestly say whether that would have been better or worse. No, Lukas had frozen the man himself. More specifically; the water in his body.

The guard's skin had already turned grey, with purple spider-webbing patterns etched all over. His veins stood out on his skin as if they had been placed just under the surface. The blood in them had frozen, marking out their shape. His skin was already turning dark underneath the fine layer of frost that lay atop his skin, his frame stiff and unyielding. Tino didn't know if he was dead yet or not.

He was shaken to his senses by a thudding noise which, on quick inspection, proved to be Lukas. Tino momentarily worried that he had overexerted himself, or fainted from shock, but the Fynknian was well and truly alive, if looking more shell-shocked and horrified than Tino had ever seen him before.

"We…we need to…" Arthur trailed off, staring at the frozen guard in a mixture of fascination and repulsion. The pirate swallowed, resolutely turning away from the horrific sight as he tugged a stunned Alfred to his feet. "We need you to unfreeze him. It'll be obvious what happened and who did it if we leave him like this." Lukas didn't respond, staring at the man in unreserved horror. "Lukas." Arthur said his name firmly, and the 19-year-old looked over at him, face white. "Melt him."

For a long moment, Tino feared that Lukas was shutting down, but he extended his arm and clenched his fist. Steam curled off the man's skin, and the now-definitively-dead man crumpled, the ice no longer holding him up. Tino stared at Lukas, concern overriding all of his other senses. They were pulled from their shocked reverie by Ayshe and Leon entering the space, looking triumphant for all of one second before they took in the scene and stopped short.

Lukas was starting to look like he was going to be sick. Tino extended a hand carefully. "Lukas-"

The teen staggered to his feet, turned on his heel and bolted through the trees. Tino withdrew his hand. Well. Ayshe seemed to have grasped the situation, but Leon looked confused. Ayshe gestured in the direction that Lukas had just gone.

"Make sure he doesn't get himself hurt." She murmured quietly. As he turned away, he saw her kneel next to the body with a knife in her hands, no doubt to fabricate some other cause of death. Sighing deeply, Tino took off after Lukas.

"It could have been so much worse, you know." Arthur murmured. Lukas stiffened, but didn't look at him. "He would have shot Alfred if you hadn't stepped in."

"That doesn't mean that I wanted to kill him." Lukas whispered. He felt Arthur put a hand on his back.

Tino had tracked him down quickly after he had run off. The sniper hadn't said much, just sat close by him as he started shaking, and dragging his dyed hair back from his mouth when he had given into the nausea and vomited into the bushes. Lukas hadn't expected it to help, but it had, in a way, just having someone nearby who wasn't frightened of him, despite what he had just done.

They had dragged him back to the apartment, and he'd had bags shoved into his hands and had his shaking body escorted into one of the seats on the ship as they took off and left Reycass behind, but he hadn't really felt any of it.

"People rarely want to kill." Arthur said, sounding like he knew Lukas' guilt all too well. "But sometimes, it proves necessary. If you hadn't killed him, he would have killed some of us. I know that he can be irritating at times, but I'm glad that you didn't let Alfred die." Lukas chuckled a little, even though the sound came out a little hoarse and wet from silent tears.

"It's not that I haven't killed anyone before…saints know I probably have, but I've never seen it so close. I've given people lethal wounds before but I've never stuck around to watch them die." Arthur tilted his head a little.

"This is the first time you've really seen the consequences of your actions, then. You aren't used to it." Arthur shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with that. Lukas, you reacted instinctively, and you saved us from exposure by doing it. I've seen people die in worse ways, so trust me when I say that it could have been worse. The guy probably didn't feel much, anyway."

Lukas looked over at him. "Have you killed people in worse ways?" Arthur gave him a wry look.

"Absolutely. I can give you five examples off the top of my head. Do you want to hear one?"

Lukas dropped his chin onto his arms. "I don't want to, but for the sake of personal healing and all that, I feel like I probably have to." Arthur smiled again.

"One of my subordinates once betrayed me; he sold various governments after my head information about me and my ship. He poked his nose in places that he shouldn't have. He found out that I had Chalydrantis, actually. He was going to expose me for that, and ensure that I wasn't able to take treatment any more." Arthur smiled grimly, expression taking on an unsettled edge. "I was so angry and scared that I decided I had to get rid of him." He hesitated. "I did dark things back then; I got ill so often that I was so convinced that my Chalydrantis was outsmarting my body and that I was going to die soon. I didn't think that I had much to lose."

Lukas waited, silent and tense, for Arthur to continue. The pirate made eye contact with him. "I cut his arms open and pulled his nerves out. I cut and pulled at them until he was screaming and crying for mercy. I disconnected the vertebrae of his spine until he couldn't feel anything below his waist, and then slit his throat. I slowly killed him for hours." Arthur frowned a little. "That incident alone has probably put me far past redemption. I'm not saying this because I'm trying to be nice, I'm saying it because it's a fact. He could have died in a worse way."

"He probably had a family." Lukas murmured. Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"Who? The man you killed, or the one I did?" Lukas looked up.

"Both."

Arthur turned away, and shrugged. "Didn't you have one too, once upon a time?"

Sickening noises drawn from a memory echoed around the back of Lukas' mind; bones snapping and a horrible, wet, gurgling. "Once upon a time." Arthur shrugged.

"An eye for an eye. The people who killed your parents were Union. That guard was, too." Lukas shrugged.

"I guess so." Arthur nodded briefly, then stood. "Don't let it get to you." Lukas sighed.

"Yeah, yeah…thanks, Arthur." The pirate shrugged with one shoulder.

"You're welcome."

Lukas drew his folded knees tighter to his chest as the pirate left the room, gazing out at the vast array of stars that met his vision through the window. They glowed and winked gently at him, and he rubbed the back of his hand across his mouth.

He glanced up as the door slid open again, this time revealing – to his immense surprise – Alfred. The former bounty hunter looked a little lost, like he didn't entirely know what he was doing there, but he crossed the room and sat down next to Lukas anyway.

They sat in total silence for a while, both admiring the stars as their ship surged through space, back to Nyma.

"…Thank you." Alfred murmured. The words startled Lukas from his peaceful haze, and he looked at Alfred in shock and confusion. Alfred made eye contact with him, a crooked smile stretching across his face. "I mean it. That guy…he was aiming for me. I'd be dead if you hadn't acted. Even Tino was caught off-guard, and that guy's vigilant as all hell."

Lukas stayed silent for a while, unsure of how to respond. "…I thought that you found me creepy." Alfred winced, and sighed, leaning back.

"I mean, I'm not exactly used to watching water fly through the air or people get knocked unconscious through the sheer power of will, but that's my backwards Rywanese childhood speaking. It's not your fault that I'm not used to seeing anything spectacular. I'll get used to it."

Lukas shrugged. "You don't have to make yourself see me as normal." Alfred looked over at him, frowning a little.

"Dude…your family has been around and doing these things for how long? 5000 years? Longer than that even? What you do is more normal than a lot of what I do. I mean…bounty hunting wasn't a booming business way back then. It wasn't a business at all!" Alfred was gesturing wildly as he explained, and Lukas had to shift away a little to avoid getting slapped by a wayward hand.

"Alright…I get the point." Lukas sighed. Alfred grinned, lowering his hands.

"Seriously man. Gimme a few weeks and I'll be right. I mean, it took me a few hours to accept that the brother I thought was dead was alive and kicking and a rebel badass. I can accept this too. If I don't, Tori would probably find a way to hurl me into the atmosphere with those earth powers she has anyway." Lukas cracked a smile.

"I don't think she can quite manage that yet."

"Can't she? Excellent. Looks like I won't get personally acquainted with an asteroid belt too quickly then." Lukas couldn't help it; he laughed. It wasn't something that he did very often, a fact that wasn't lost on most people who spoke to him. Alfred was grinning. Lukas calmed down a little as they resumed their star-gazing.

"Thank you, Alfred."

"I really didn't do anythi-"

"Just accept my gratitude."

"Alrighty."

The silence had resumed, but it wasn't so awkward, and, Lukas realised, he didn't feel quite so guilty anymore.

Can you tell that USUK has grown on me a lot as a ship? Because it really has. I'm sorry to all FRUK shippers out there, because, while I understand why you ship it (I ship both), in this story, Francis has other things to focus on. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Sorry for the angst with Lukas. Our bby will be alright, I promise.

Also holy shit this was over 8358 words I need to stop.